Higginbotham replaces the departed Gareth Delve as Rebels skipper in 2014. Source: Michael Klein / News Limited
CAPTAIN Scott Higginbotham says it is time for Melbourne Rebels to make its move, declaring his side wants to become Australia's premier Super Rugby team in 2014.
The club's expectations have risen under new coach Tony McGahan and Higginbotham said mediocrity would not be tolerated in 2014.
"You don't want to be one of those teams that starts in the comp and struggle to get off the ground," he said.
"A bit like the Cheetahs, who are doing well now but took awhile to get off the ground.
"The Force are still working their way up the ladder, and they have been in the competition for a number of years.
"You don't want to take too much time doing that - I think you've really got to make your mark and pick a year to build and get stuck into it."
The star Wallaby backrower said his side was up for the challenge of winning the Australian conference for the first time this season.
"This is our fourth year of the competition and we are really looking to make inroads," he said.
"We want to be top of the conference - we're not looking to just get out there and be tough competition for other teams.
"We're looking to be top of the competition and that's our challenge.
"All the boys are more than willing to put their hand up and have a go at that."
Higginbotham, who has enjoyed a full pre-season after undergoing surgery last year, will lead his side into its first trial game against the Waratahs in Albury next week.
"I had the surgeries in June so I had my rehab from there and then straight into pre-season," he said.
"I haven't done a pre-season in a long time and I don't particularly want to think about doing one again.
"Playing games is the best part about being a footballer, so I am looking forward to it."
The Rebels have enjoyed a strong pre-season with only four players not taking part in full training.
"We didn't have any Wallabies go away this season, which is disappointing," he said.
"But the positive of that is we have had a full 14-week pre-season to all train and gel together.
"A lot of training has been about playing 15 on 15 football, so it's great to have those sort of numbers."
The 27-year-old was recently appointed captain following the departure of Gareth Delve at the end of last season.
This will be only his second season at the club and he said it had been a steep learning curve.
"I think you need to voice yourself a bit more now, which is kind of hard," he said.
"Coming from Queensland, I didn't have much of a leadership role there.
"But I was sort of swung straight into it when I came down here last year.
"I've embraced it - being on-field captain last year was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to that this year."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Higgers demands more of Rebels
Dengan url
http://sportifoclube.blogspot.com/2014/01/higgers-demands-more-of-rebels.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Higgers demands more of Rebels
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Higgers demands more of Rebels
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar